Ambient Occlusion mod

[red_one]

MrMMods v1.2 - AO, SimpleMap, BetterGrass [v1.2.3 fixed] - Minecraft Forums

[Drac]

In theory you should be able to make this game look like Oblivion. All the data is there, you just need some smart algorithms to interpolate more/natural detail between the base blocks. I'm not sure Java is up to that task though, you'd probably want compiled code for those kind of tasks.

[Mighty Brush]

Java certainly isn't up to it.

Eventually there will be clients written using other game engines, I just hope that Notch is willing to work with them, and as long as they don't charge, allow them - after all, he can still charge the fee for the "subscription" which is then enforced via authentication through his website.